2003

Professor Jennifer Earl, is a member of the Sociology Department and is current Director of CITS at UC Santa Barbara. Using the online strategic voting movement during the 2000 US Presidential Election as a case study, Professor Earl and her colleagues argue that the application of prior theory often overlooks the ways in which movements that emerge and thrive online function differently from conventional movements.

Jon Cruz is an Associate Professor of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara. His research interests include the sociology of knowledge; American racial history; and media.

Professor Bimber's research examines the relationship between evolving information technology and changes in human behavior, especially in the domains of political organization, collective action, social capital, and political deliberation.

Professor Stohl's talk explores how in today's complex and volatile global environment members of different organizations (often competitors) are working together, for a limited time, to collaborate on solving technical and social problems and creating products that they would be unable to do themselves in an effective and efficient manner.

Professor Emerita Francesca Bray's most recent work focuses everyday technologies and the Californian way of life. She examines the social and political relations and the cultural meanings embodied in such everyday artifacts as the flush toilet, the genetically-engineered tomato, and e-mail.

Dr. Richard Mayer is a professor in the Psychology department at UC Santa Barbara. Professor Mayer's research involves the intersection of cognition, instruction, and technology with a special focus on multimedia learning and problem solving.

Dr. Stonich talks on her research that has focused on the radicalization of local groups around environmental issues and the emergence of grass-roots environmental movements of the poor in Central America.

Stephen Pope's talk looks at how technology, culture, and the arts have been intimately intertwined for as long as there have been technology, culture, and arts. That being said, there are several aspects of modern technology and culture that have significant impacts on this relationship.

Dr. Beall's talk focuses on computer-mediated communication systems known as Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) which allow geographically separated individuals to interact verbally and nonverbally in a shared virtual space in real-time.